1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image transmission system including a cradle apparatus capable of transmitting an image captured by a general-purpose digital camera to terminals on a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is a network camera system that can transmit, to terminals on a network, a video image photographed by a camera capable of controlling zooming attached to a motor-driven panhead capable of controlling panning and tilting. Such a network camera system transmits an image according to a request from a client apparatus and controls panning, tilting, and zooming operations to be performed by the camera.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-080256 discusses a cradle apparatus (connection stand) on which a general-purpose digital camera is mounted to enable functions of the camera to be externally controlled.
In such a system, it is necessary to effectively process requests for transmitting images that are picked up in real time (low-resolution moving images used for monitoring) and requests for shooting high-resolution still images for storage, which are issued from a plurality of client apparatuses.
More specifically, when requests from a plurality of client apparatuses are simply received, in some cases, transmission of images picked up by a camera in real time and transmission of high-resolution still images may be performed at the same time. Accordingly, in those cases, an amount of data communication may exceed a data transfer band between a camera and a cradle apparatus or a transmission band on a network. Thus, a moving image may be displayed in a jerky motion or a relatively long time may be taken to receive a still image.